Mplus Short Course, Taiwan, January 10-11, 2011

The Mplus program is unique in its statistical modeling approach using a general latent variable framework that covers both cross-sectional and longitudinal data; both continuous and categorical latent variables; both single-level and multilevel data; continuous, censored, binary, ordinal, nominal, and count outcomes; and using estimation via maximum-likelihood, weighted least-squares, and Bayesian analysis.

The course will be taught by Bengt and Linda Muthén, the co-developers of the Mplus program. Participation is free. The event is sponsored by the National Science Council, Taiwan and National Taichung University with local arrangements by Professor Chih-Chien Yang.

The first day of the Mplus course covers modeling with continuous latent variables, including factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and growth modeling. The second day covers modeling with categorical latent variables, including latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling.

REGISTRATION

To register for the course click here. Admission is free, but participants need to register. Participants should print out and bring the course handouts because they will not be provided at the course location. The handouts for the two days are available here: Day 1 and Day 2.

Click here for the handout of Bengt Muthen's talk at the Sunday, January 9th latent variable symposium.

INSTRUCTORS

Bengt O. Muthén obtained his Ph.D. in Statistics at the University of Uppsala, Sweden and is Professor Emeritus at UCLA. He is a former President of the Psychometric Society.

Linda K. Muthén is the Director of Product Development at Muthén & Muthén. She obtained her Ph.D. in the Research Methods Division of the Graduate School of Education at UCLA. She was formerly the Manager of Quality Control and Customer Support at BMDP Statistical Software.

COURSE INFORMATION The courses will be taught from 8:30am to 5:00pm both days. Course material will be presented in English. Following are the topics for each day:

TOPICS: DAY 1, JANUARY 10
FACTOR ANALYSIS, STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING, AND GROWTH MODELING

Confirmatory factor analysis
Bayesian factor analysis
Measurement invariance and population heterogeneity
CFA with covariates (MIMIC)
Structural equation modeling
Typical examples of growth modeling
Basic modeling ideas
Simple examples of growth modeling
Covariates in the growth model
Piecewise growth modeling
Growth modeling with parallel processes
Two-part growth modeling

TOPICS: DAY 2, JANUARY 11
LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS AND GROWTH MIXTURE MODELING

Latent class analysis
Latent class analysis with covariates
Factor mixture modeling, IRT mixture modeling
Hidden Markov modeling, latent transition analysis
Latent class growth analysis
Growth mixture modeling with latent trajectory classes

SCHEDULE FOR EACH DAY

8:00 am Registration, Complimentary tea
8:30 am-10:00 am Lecture
10:00 am -10:15 am Tea break
10:15 am -12:00 pm Lecture
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Lunch (Participants are on their own for lunch)
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Lecture
3:00 pm - 3:15 pm Complimentary tea break
3:15 pm - 5 pm Lecture

PREREQUISITES

Participants are expected to have strong knowledge of regression analysis. Participants can prepare themselves by watching videos of previous Mplus short courses, which are available at http://www.statmodel.com/course_materials.shtml.

The first day of the course relates to Topic 1 and Topic 3 of these videos and the second day relates to Topic 5 and Topic 6.

LOCAL INFORMATION

There are direct flights from Hong Kong to Taichung airports, taking about 90 minutes. It is a 40-minutes drive from the Taichung airport to the National Taichung University, with taxi costing around $20 or 600+ Taiwan dollars. Taichung can be reached by high-speed train from Taipei in 90 minutes. Lodging can be easily found around the university since it is located in the heart of Taichung, the third-largest city of Taiwan.